The value of critical thinking

Dr Errol N Benjamin

In taking a random sample of complaints in Letters to the Editor on any given day in the newspapers, what becomes evident is that underpinning each is the negative consequence of the failure of the accused to engage in any form of critical evaluation of the course of action undertaken leading to an intelligent choice.

For example, the Toco highway project seems underway when a reasoned approach would have given a sense of the varied fallout from same, as articulated by so many, experts included. So too with the closure of Petrotrin with its adverse human consequence that a more comprehensive approach may have prevented.

Then again, the belligerence in the “official” anti-US rhetoric of late could have taken into account the possible negative reaction from the most powerful player in the region, and with respect to crime, a more holistic approach as against mere crime and punishment, could have put seemingly run-away criminality in check.

In each of these instances is a kind of irrational behaviour and its consequent fallout and “Letters” is replete with examples of a similar kind.

But if only, in each instance, a rational approach were taken, to mean a critical evaluation of each situation arriving at a logical, informed choice or decision, much of the negativity above could be avoided.

Reasonableness in the approach to choices may appear to be a distant ideal, for irrationality of the kind above leading to varied manifestations of human suffering has always been with us in TT.

But we are not unique in this as a society. Mankind throughout history has been guilty of the same kind of irrationality which has been, and continues to be, the downfall of nations, groups and individuals.

But we can take comfort from the fact that critical thinking as a rational approach to issues which influence the way we live is now taking centre stage in educational institutions worldwide and is now being recognised as an effective strategy in countering the irrationality which has been the bane both for us in this country, and the world at large.

There is another side to this irrationality that is often taken for granted.

Excesses such as those above are bad enough but equally bad is their acceptance through the mistaken thinking of people who are well-meaning.

The real danger occurs when such irrational behaviour is accepted and condoned by sincere but gullible people who have little more than a child’s understanding of what intellectual due process entails.

Such people approach the world with a kind of innocent credulity, underestimating its complexity and viewing it only in terms of “black and white.”

The consequence is a simplistic approach to problem-solving without due consideration to the hard facts of causation and evidence. For critical thinkers, truth is never one-dimensional or simple. Truth comes in pieces, is unlikely to be found in any one place, and is the product of intellectual and ideological diversity.

Is critical thinking, then, as an intellectual processing of behaviour, an effective way to cope with the irrational excesses of our daily living here in TT and the world at large? Such is possible, but not in itself, not without a “moral” base. But this gives rise to a key question: What is it to be moral? In broad terms, “morality” is not always restricted to religious considerations or to what is considered right or wrong in the orthodox sense but is often conceived in terms of the degree of acceptability of certain patterns of behaviour. The net effect is that what is morally acceptable to some may be morally abhorrent to others. It is a diverse world with equally diverse, often contradictory moral positions. Having said that, however, the balance in judgement we strive for as cultural practice through critical thinking, no matter what our differences, must spring from an innate goodness and sense of fair play which constitute that universal morality that binds us as humans.

But such rationality as a cultural trait of a people cannot be merely wished for. If it is to become pervasive, cultural, indeed the way a society thinks, it must become part of a national mission in education, revolutionising the way we teach and the way we learn. There must be a shift from the “what” of knowledge to the “why”. With the education system engendering such a spirit of inquiry across disciplines and in the process instilling it into the consciousness, is it not logical to hope that the net effect will be a generation of citizens with an acquired propensity to ask meaningful questions and make intelligent choices about the way they live?

This nation of ours is in peril because of the absence or indifference to this capacity for independent thinking. Irrational behaviour in many instances, has become almost institutionalised. Some of us never ask questions about our leaders or the basis of our loyalties to them. Imprisoned within the cocoon of our varied ethnicities, our politicians can do no wrong in our eyes, although the “morality” of their politics is often to serve themselves under the guise of serving the people. Many of us accept our depressed lives with fatalistic resignation, and among the materially well-off, there are the ones who allow their greed and self-interest to supersede all considerations of dignity and self-respect.

For some, crime has almost become normative and for a large majority, Carnival is the opiate of all ills. And why not, some may say? There are rewards to be had from such so-called “irrational behaviour”, so why ask questions? But this acceptance of our lot without question is the way a society participates in its own subordination without really realizing it. It is a form of dehumanisation, indeed enslavement, which only a questioning mind can recognise. Critical thinking as an intellectual processing of behaviour, should it become cultural practice through its nurture in the school system, can be the renaissance that leads us out of such mental servitude into a path of enlightened thinking which is the hallmark of decent and civilised living.